Love Monopoly, but sick of losing after hours of play? Well, my friend, prepare to get your just reward!

Follow these simple instructions and you can kiss losing goodbye!

Barter and pay any amount for the first three Monopoly properties of same color. Don’t waste your time on two color, railroads, utilities, etc. They are only side attractions.

Be first to get 3 same color properties. Then, put houses on them ASAP. The idea is to get 4 houses on each property. NO HOTELS. This keeps the number of possible houses per game (32) at a minimum for your opponents. Once you get a set of properties, get two more ASAP. Sell your other properties, do whatever you can to borrow, bargain, etc. Then, once you get houses on them, keep them at 4 houses per property. If you get 2 sets of 3 same color properties, that’s 12 houses per set or 24 houses for both sets. If you claim 24 houses, that leaves only 8 houses for your opponents. Don’t ever cash in for hotels, cuz that just gives the opposition access to more houses. Then, once you have 24 houses, you sit back, roll the dice, and wait to win.

My pastor, Bob Casady, mentioned an incident recently where a couple hosted more than 600 Missouri State University students at their back lawn gathering. The host introduced himself to a group of black students who are from another area. They said to him, “You’re the first white person to talk to us. Is Springfield a racist town?”

I haven’t had a black friend to hang out with since the 80s (Evangel College…Carl Farmer) and 90s (Kansas City…Jimmy Collins).

Pastor Bob went on to talk about a black man who struck up conversations with KKK members and consequently, 120 of them turned in their hoods and robes to him as a sign of quitting the hate group. The point was that you can’t hate someone you know. The KKK dudes said they didn’t really know any black people.

Pastor Bob

I want to know that if you are African-American, I am looking to be your friend. Not because of your color, but because of my lack of color.

Those folks, like my friend Rowena and her husband, Jonathan, down in Houston, Texas, are probably glad they got homeowner’s insurance. They saw more hurricane rain this weekend than they ever wanna see… kind of like being Noah, without the ark, down there…

But, let’s consider that for the most part, Homeowner’s Insurance, is, to borrow a phrase from a movie where kids kill each other for food (Hunger Games) “may the odds be ever in the (insurance agent’s) favor”…

I don’t like the odds stacked against me. If I owned a home, I would NOT bow to the insurance gods… no siree, Bob… (who is Bob anyway, and why do people say “yesirree” to him?)

No way would I flush my hard earned money down the tube of insurance scammery…

I will illustrate with a blunt, brutal story from my best friend, which happened this morning:

Me: How much money have you spent, on average, on homeowner’s insurance?

Best Friend: $200 per month.

Me: For how long?

Best Friend: About 20 years.

Me: And how many claims did you have during those 20 years?

Best Friend: Two.

Me: How much were they?

Best Friend: One was $16,000 and the other was $6,000.

Me: And insurance paid it?

Best Friend: Yep.

Me: So, let me get this right. All you had to do to get $22,000 worth of coverage was pay $200 per month for 20 years? So, that’s 200 times 12, which is 2,400 per year, times 20 years… that’s $48,000…

So, there you have it, friends. A real world, heart wrenching story from this morning. Think about that next time your fork over your hard-earned $200 on homeowner’s insurance. Perhaps my friends, you should put $200 into a separate bank account on your own. Hey, you’re blowing it on an outside insurance company anyway! So, put it in an account that YOU control. Then, when disaster strikes, use the money you’ve paid to YOURSELF… and, if you DON’T use it all… and why would you? You have extra money at retirement… maybe $26,000 or MORE!

(I’m only asking that you pay me 10 percent of your savings. This is a real bargain for you, since you didn’t have to pay to read this free advice on how to save big!)

A lady I’ve never met posted something worth reposting. Her name is Tammy Lockard. Check it out:

Some in Charlottesville, were just patriots. Some are sick of the anti-white rhetoric etc. There were groups of historians who believe we should “keep monuments to remind us of our mistakes”. There were many people there who were venting, and many who were there to show their aggression. I think it was a really poorly run event. If we shut up people we do not agree with, we will miss the chance to listen to what their issues and points of view, are.. I am a person who believes in the most freedom of speech, and free right to assemble. I don’t feel strongly about monuments to dead people. I don’t even want my own grave marked etc. I would rather completely evaporate without a trace. The event was one where people had applied for a license to assemble. It was approved, because our laws give us the right to protest our government and opposite views, in a peaceful and orderly assembly. It should have been a protected assembly. Once the license was approved, proper law enforcement should have been in place. That is exactly where this process failed. At every instance of lawlessness or assault, on either side, arrests should have been made. If we cannot freely assemble, we live in tyranny. These laws were put in place to insure we have a voice, all of us. That right was an informed event of assembly. Unfortunately, the Mayor and police force chose to ignore lawlessness. The day should never have ramped up into what amounted to gang wars. Our government officials, and Justice Department are going to have to hold law enforcement and local authorities responsible for being derelict in their duties. Otherwise, they allow organized tyranny to prevail. The truth is, there are always going to be people who do not look like you or think like you. They are sovereign individuals, with a sovereign right to like you or not. They do not have to agree with you. You do not have to agree with them. But you do not have a right to assault them. We have had KKK rallies forever. People typically go to watch them, like children at a parade. They watch them wear their goofy hats and say ridiculous things. The same with the Nazis. A few, stand on the sidelines and heckle the goofy people. Then, everyone goes home and gives their children lessons and opinions, and move on. In the past, they were very minor events. They were well policed etc. Now, law enforcement have lost their authority because of a groundswell of disrespect, against their place in our society as peacekeepers. The Anarchists are shortsighted people. They were the worst element of the day. They have no plan but to tear people and government, down. They are brutal bullies who stooped to violence. They are, ironically, the exact thing they say they hate, bullies. They hide behind masks which cannot hide the shallowness of their agenda. They have no follow-through plan for a deconstructed country. They are not there to build anything. If you ask them ” and then what?”, they have no clue. They will throw us all into chaos, and then do nothing about the damage. I have yet to see, an anarchist who can think beyond their belligerence and rage. They scream “our rights are being denied” but when you challenge them to run for office and “be the change they want to see”, they stomp off. I personally, do not judge people who are willing to do a necessary job, I am unwilling to do. I do not give opinions without assistance and proposed solutions. They have little to no ideas. They certainly, could never be, an alternative solution. At the end of the day, someone else would need to pick up after their mess and re-establish order. I fear the foreign hands in inciting chaos. Lincoln understood this when he said “a house divided will surely fall”.. and fall to what (or whom)? There are just too many elements of this trend, to not see a pattern of nonstop assault on our strength of our nation.

Something big is coming! I know, it sounds like HYPE… and, well, in a way… who cares if it is?
The point is, when something this big happens, the ones who know have an obligation, even a duty, to inform those who do not know…
Consider yourself warned. Don’t miss it! stay tuned here for more information soon!

I’ve been trying to kick start a blog for some time now. Problem is, I don’t have a niche.

You know, a determined, pre-conceived audience for whom I write.

A friend asked me point blank the other day, in response to my post in a Writers & Authors Page on Facebook about not being able to find an audience with my blog.

She asked, “Who is your audience?” and I kinda thought to myself, um, well, I guess it’s… and my mental voice kinda trailed off at that point, like my 13-year-old’s does when I ask if he’s done his homework.

So, I thought about it, for like 12 seconds, as always, ’cause I like to make snap decisions (indecision ranks down there with my 16-year-old’s used sock smell) and I blurted (if one can blurt in a text message) that I supposed my audience was “Millennials who want to discover something about themselves.”

Honestly, the ONLY reason I said that crap was because:

A. I didn’t like feeling stupid for not finding a target audience before starting my blog

B. I didn’t want a girl who used to play keyboards at church as a teenager when I was a big muckety-muck youth pastor at the same church show me up with her simple question about who my target audience was

C. My best friend’s son (who claims he’s a Millennial at age 20, but heck, my cousin’s 16-year-old daughter claims she’s a Millennial…bzzt WRONG!) claims he LOVED my blog posts and said they would totally connect with Millennials so I thought, Millennials, yeah. I’m hip. I thought I was writing to my peer group, but hey, I guess the young folks dig it more ’cause I’m so honest, or something.

For the record, I Googled generational distinctions and Millennials were born between 1980 and 1995, according to a reliable source, the Center For Generational Kinetics… the reason for this is the emotional connection Millennials feel from 9/11 (September 11, 2001) and the Gen Z kids (born after 1995) were too young for a strong emotional experience related to that event when it happened. Some sources claim Millennials were born as late as 2000 but that leaves no personal connection to 9/11 so… nope.

Anyhoo, Millennial stuff now researched, my friend (who really is a Millennial) said many Millennials are too sensitive for my terms (retard, turd-breath, Republican, Bible thumper, light in the loafers, God-phobe atheist, sand Negro, Bathrobe head, and many other outlandish terms that I don’t really use but just might if so inclined and I’d just been ripped off by a street beggar who was really a disgruntled Postal Worker posing as a Homeless Person.

Read the above paragraph again if you want, but it won’t make much sense the second time, either.

Welp, anyways, I ditched the notion right then and there when my Millennial Friend suggested that her peers were too pussy to purr over my bluntness. So, I said, screw Millennials. Or, Gen Z’s who think they’re freakin’ Millennials. How about I just do this stupid blog post for myself?

That would mean you’d have to be a white, 50ish man who’s wife divorced him after a long time and several kiddos, leaving him confused and angry but pretending he’s doing well. That would mean my audience is composed of men who love God and Jesus and grew up going to church but feel like church is kinda wimpy and phony at worst, and a good place to meet people who want to care at best.

That would mean my blog would be geared toward guys who feel absolutely invisible at times and who feel like if they stripped naked and set themselves on fire in a crowded restaurant people would still push past him to get to the taco salad.

Bottom line is, I don’t think people of any culture or viewpoint or age or race or creed or color or religion or cult or background, be it Redneck, Rogue, or Refined, can collect enough interest to stop and read a blog these days, unless it’s followed by millions (or at least more than 6?) people on a regular basis.

I got ten or 12 likes on my last post and I felt pretty doggone superb about that, being that in the past post, I got like, um, zero to one like (I think my Mom liking a post doesn’t really count). But, thanks Mom, if you’re reading this.

So please, don’t read this blog unless you’re a man over 40. You’re not my demographic. And, you have no business liking it.

Whether or not you like this blog, it’s for me. Your comments are always welcome, even if you aren’t a guy over 40!

John Cockroft isn’t crazy. He’s just not sure how to get a bigger audience. He believes his words hold value and his opinions matter. But then again, most people reading this feel that way about themselves. Hey, maybe everyone is his demographic, after all! JohnCockroft.com and 1ofakindonline.com for more about him.

I’ll get right to the point. There is one thing on my wish list each Christmas…

Okay, it’s on my list even in the summertime. And in the Spring. And, yep, the Fall.

So, what’s this all season wish?

Let me first ask you, the reader: what is it that you want more than anything? Do you have a passion in life? Is there something you’d definitely not want to go a day without?

I realize those are two different questions. Let’s take the first question, Do you have a passion in life?

First, if you have a passion, such as mountain climbing, it may take a while to condition yourself to attain that goal. If you have a career goal, you know the drill. Set the timetable and write it down. Get advice from those who are where you want to be, etc. Having a passion can also be something you do but it isn’t getting you any real benefit, such as a passion for sex, alcohol, shopping, gossip, or lottery ticket buying, tobacco buying… all right, you can tell I’ve been around convenience stores too much.

Convenience stores aside, what is your passion in life? Does it make you a better person if you pursue it? Does it help others?

Next question: Is there something you’d definitely not want to go a day without?

Let’s get the obvious out of the way, such as oxygen, water, etc. Yes, we prefer to eat and sleep, but I suppose most of us would still be alive 24 hours later if deprived of food or sleep. But air? Kinda ranks high on the list.

Push aside the essentials, and what do I mean by is there something you’d not wanna go a day without? tobacco? caffeine? pornography? texting? Facebook? gossip? video games? TV?

What about those healthy choices, like daily exercise, Bible study, prayer, random acts of kindness? Yes, all good and healthy, per se, but what about your passion? What is your driving force?

This sounds like a motivational speech, doesn’t it?

So, be prepared to be a little less motivated.

My one thing I want but cannot get.

I’m passionate about creating art, literature and visual stories through video and photography. I’ve written books (check them out on Amazon) and appeared in a variety of films and stage plays. I’ve created artwork on T-shirts and canvas; in fact, that’s what I do for a living now. http://www.1ofakindonline.com

Let’s step back from passion, drive, ambition, goal setting… all the motivational stuff.

What do you want most?

Think about it before you answer.

What I want most is______________.

Let me know what your answers are. Comment below.

Ready for my one thing now?

Finally, here goes: The one thing I want most but cannot get is to have my children live with me.

Yep. That’s the thing on my wish list. I wish I could wave a magic wand and get the last six years back that my kids have been apart from me. It’s not their choice they had to leave. It sure isn’t mine.

But divorce happened. And because it happened, though I fought against it tooth and nail, it took my precious boys away from me. They were 12, 10, 7 and 1 when the separation occurred. It tore like a knife.

For details, see my book on Amazon “Divorced Christian Dad.”

The one thing I want, money can’t buy. The one thing I want, I can’t get by working on something, or improving who I am, or completing a seminar or going to counseling.

The one thing I want, to have my boys live under my roof, is the one thing I can’t get.

Even if I gained a ton of money and pursued custody in court, it wouldn’t buy back the six years I’ve lost.

That’s why things get a little weird for me. Not having the one thing I wish for most, and realizing that if I changed all my behavior to the “Billy Graham” setting of perfection, or if I had the “Bill Gates” income, or the “Brad Pitt” appearance, nothing could get me what I want most.

I’m stuck on a timeline in the course of eternity that happened to start in the 20th century and now continues into the 21st century. Then, scores of years hence, no one will remember me and I’ll be a distant memory to the few who knew my children or grandchildren.

Just like my great-great grandparents, I won’t meet my great-great grandchildren. Just like them, I won’t be talked about in the 22nd century. And, as time rolls on, or even if Christ returns in the rapture and the world ends in a ball of fire, I still won’t have had my children growing up in my household in the early 21st century the way they were supposed to.

No matter what happens or doesn’t happen in the Cosmos, John Cockroft won’t get full time custody of his kids.

If I could go back in time, I would. I would change everything that caused those kids to not be in my home. I accept responsibility for my mistakes. But I can’t cause those mistakes to have never happened.

What did I learn from my mistakes? That there’s nothing I can do to reverse them. No matter how good a person I become. No matter how much money I earn. No matter how influential and powerful I become.

Right now, I’d trade all the money, fame, power, and praise for the chance to raise my sons in my home rather than be a visitor every other weekend.

I hope you are reading this with hope. I hope you aren’t divorced, and that you still have your kids. Or, if you are young without kids, I hope you get married and stay married. And raise your kids all the way through.

My new wife and I have devoted our lives to making marriage popular again. Check out our YouTube channel “TwentyFourSevenMarriage”…

Chances are, John Cockroft is more transparent than you. That’s because he’s a big-time muckety-muck professional blogger so don’t even try it on your own.

Stand up for women

If you believe women deserve privacy in the public restroom, deserve to be in a happy marriage, etc. you are not alone. Don't fall fodder to the "phobia" phobia being propagated out there... liberal, conservative, black, white, green, gay, straight, trans, Martian, Luliputian, whatever you are... be counted... reply and comment on this blog! Let's hear from you! Follow and share! Go for it!